---
title: "Why is the tar command used?"  
description: "Why is the tar command used?"  
author: "Mukul Goenka"  
published: 2022-04-15  
canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/96827/why-is-the-tar-command-used  
category: "troubleshooting"  
tags: ["troubleshooting", "linux"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# Why is the tar command used?

Why is the tar [command](https://www.mindstick.com/interview/36/what-is-the-use-of-alter-table-command-in-database) used?

## Answers

### Answer by Hitesh Vohra

- The **tar command** compresses a collection of files into a single archive. Tar archives can also be extracted, maintained, or modified with this command.
- Multiple files and/or directories are combined into a single tar bundle. Although tar archives are not always compressed, they can be. Permissions are kept, and a variety of compression types are supported.
- The Linux command 'tar' stands for tape archive, and it is used to generate and extract Archive files. In [**Linux**](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/96810/what-is-linux), the tar command is an important utility that provides archiving capability. We may use the Linux tar command to create, maintain, and edit compressed and uncompressed Archive files.

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**Read More: [Explain the redirection operator.](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/96826/explain-the-redirection-operaton)**


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Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/96827/why-is-the-tar-command-used

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